Sandy Lee (born 1964) is a South Korean-born-

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and politician, who was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a uni ...

from 1999 to 2011.

Political career

Territorial Assembly

Lee was elected to the legislature for the first time in the

1999 Northwest Territories general election The 1999 Northwest Territories general election was held on December 6, 1999. This was the first election under the new boundaries that were created when Nunavut was carved out of the Northwest Territories. 19 members were elected, five fewer than ...

, defeating future MLA

Dave Ramsay Dave Ramsay (born March 18, 1970 in Saint John, New Brunswick) is a Yellowknife businessman and politician. Political career Ramsay first ran for a seat in the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in the 1999 Northwest Territories general ...

and another candidate. She was re-elected to her second term in office in the

2003 Northwest Territories general election The 2003 Northwest Territories general election was held on November 24, 2003, to elect the 19 members of the Legislative Assembly. The election was called on October 27. Premier Stephen Kakfwi had previously chosen not to run. The territory op ...

, winning with a landslide 80 per cent of the vote. Lee was the Minister for Health and Social Services, Status of Women and Disabilities.

2011 federal election

On March 26, 2011, Lee resigned as MLA so she could run in the 2011 federal election for the Conservatives in the

Western Arctic Northwest Territories (french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada. The electoral district covers the entire territory. This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River ...

. Lee was appointed by the executive of the territorial Conservative association. Her appointment caused upset among some of the regular members of the association. An advert in the 25 March 2011 ''

Yellowknifer The ''Yellowknifer'' is a newspaper based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and owned by Northern News Services. It was first published on March 22, 1972 by J.W. (Sig) Sigvaldson, who remains the current publisher. Both a Wednesday and a Frid ...

'' had stated that nominations would close at 5:00 pm that day, which the national party said was not a valid closure. Nomination papers for John Pollard were received after that and the territorial executive said his nomination was not valid."Conservative party members planning appeal of Sandy Lee candidacy, sources say"
. '' Northern News Services'', March 30, 2011. She did not win election to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, losing to incumbent MP Dennis Bevington.

References

1964 births Canadian politicians of Korean descent South Korean emigrants to Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Living people Women MLAs in the Northwest Territories People from Yellowknife Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons 21st-century Canadian women politicians {{NorthwestTerritories-politician-stub